Are You Alright?
by behindyoureyes
Summary: Suddenly she was a naive small town girl, getting lost in the blue eyes of the boy who was everything to her. Snapping her eyes shut and then opening them again, she found herself back in the present and he was a man, years of distance between them.


This is a little diddy that randomly invaded my mind upon hearing the title song, Are You Alright by Lucinda Williams. I just got this image of Nathan and Haley meeting after a long separation at something that meant...something. Let me try to put that into English: Nathan and Haley were in a relationship, an awesome and wonderful and loving one like on the show, being each other's everything and whatnot, but it ended. But not like terribly, because of lies or cheating or any other ugliness...just because they both needed to be individuals and the timing wasn't right, or something to that effect. So they split up on good terms, but they don't speak or have any contact. Then one of them finds out that the other's dreams have come true (yay!) and they have just have to be there. The rest is at the liberty of your imagination, and you'll have to wait for more chapters to find out the whole story:) Here we gooooo:

(PS please give the song a listen!)

_Are you alright?_

"Haley! Haley, wait!"

She spun around, surprised, and gave him a small smile as he ran towards her. "Hi, stranger," she said softly. "You were great!"

"I can't believe you're here, I can't believe you came!" he exclaimed, slightly out of breath and sporting that goofy smile she used to love so much.

"I saw you on ESPN," she laughed as Nathan's eyebrows rose in shock. "I was with Lucas and he somehow convinced me to watch sports with him, and the draft thingy came on," she offered in explanation. "So, here I am."

"I'm—I'm so glad you are," he struggled. "I mean... it means so much more now."

"I just...this was your dream for so long, and it kind of became mine too...I couldn't not come."

He beamed at her words, resisting the urge to pull her into his arms as he stared at her, saw that Haley James I-told-you-you-could-do-anything smile. A few seconds passed in silence. "I miss you," he admitted bluntly.

She blushed and looked to the ground, but he didn't miss how the corners of her mouth turned upward just the slightest bit.

She glanced behind her and inhaled lightly, and he could tell that she searching for a way to say goodbye. "Well, I just wanted to come and see you play. I can't believe you made it, number twelve—although you'll always be 23 to me," she smiled, and looked into his eyes for a fleeting moment. "I'm really proud of you, Nathan."

"Thank you, Hales," he said, the sound of his old nickname for her sending swirls of memories through her mind. "I'm proud of you too."

She looked at him, puzzled, and laughed, "Of me? For what?"

He looked at his feet. "About a year ago, I was playing for a D-League team in New York, and uh...I came to one of your shows."

Her mouth dropped open before spreading into a smile. "Why didn't you say hello?"

"Hey, you weren't planning on saying hello to me, I basically had to chase you down just now," he protested in self-defense, and she gave a slight nod acknowledging his point. "But I'm sorry I didn't. You were amazing, Haley. I wish I could've told you that, after the show, how proud I was and how happy seeing you play made me. You know I always loved hearing you sing, but—on stage like that, you were just...I had chills."

Never one for taking compliments, she laughed and shook off his praise. "I'm hardly playing on stages, more like a piece of wood two feet above the rest of the pub floor."

"Doesn't make a difference," he shook his head, "whether you're playing arenas or on the side of a street, your voice and your lyrics...change people's lives, I know it."

"Nathan," she said in a whisper.

"Changed mine," he shrugged.

"_Yo, Nate! Party in the locker room for the rookie who actually didn't suck in his first game! Popping champagne back here, man!" a teammate called._

Haley shifted nervously as Nathan looked back, shaking his head and tensely laughing at his new teammate's antics.

"You should go," she nodded to inside. "Really, go. I never meant to stay this long anyway. It was really good to see you, Nathan." She smiled a tight-lipped half smile and turned away before he grabbed her hand. "Let's go somewhere," he pleaded.

And just like that she was a naive small town girl, getting lost in the blue eyes of the boy who was everything to her. Snapping her eyes shut and then opening them again, she found herself back in the present and he was a man, years of distance between them. "Come on, it's your first game in the NBA," she said, lightly elbowing him. "Go be with your teammates, they're popping champagne for you and everything," she smiled.

"Nah. I'd rather be with you," he told her. "Let's go. We have a lot to catch up on, Haley James."

She took a deep breath. "Yes we do."


End file.
